MANY RESIDENTS of Greenfield know Greenfield River Park as the local dog park. Others play softball or pickleball there. Some, like Batch, call it home. His small blue and orange tent is tucked in the woods so close to third base he has collected a bucket full of errant balls that have landed in his […]
Housing
Posted inOpinion
HDIP addresses need for market-rate housing
WE ALL KNOW that New Bedford is facing a housing crisis that involves not only rising rents and home prices, but a severe shortage in housing options across all income levels. This housing production problem rests largely on the fact that construction costs in New Bedford rival Boston, but the rents that can be charged […]
Posted inHousing, Opinion
Who will fill the vital role Silicon Valley Bank played in affordable housing?
BY NOW, the world has an opinion on what went wrong at Silicon Valley Bank. Banking and regulatory experts have, of course, weighed in. Venture capitalists quickly called for government to step in and insure all deposits. Even Twitter accounts that gained a following by reporting on pandemic or insurrection news, suddenly opined on a […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Should state dollars be used to jumpstart market-rate housing construction?
THERE IS BROAD agreement that Massachusetts desperately needs to build more housing, but should state government be subsidizing the construction of market-rate units? That question is at the heart of a fierce debate taking shape over a program launched more than a dozen years ago to spur housing production and economic growth in the state’s […]
Posted inOpinion
We want a 5% cap on rent increases
IN A HISTORIC win for Boston’s housing justice movement and working-class families, the Boston City Council recently voted 11-2, in favor of rent stabilization! Now the power is in the hands of Beacon Hill legislators to lift the statewide ban on rent control and bring stronger tenant protections to Massachusetts. Thirty years ago, the big-profit […]
Posted inOpinion
What Gateway Cities need is more market-rate housing
SIXTEEN GATEWAY CITY mayors and managers recently penned an opinion piece in The Boston Globe urging the Legislature to scale up the successful Housing Development Incentive Program, a tool designed to build more workforce housing in small cities across the state. MassINC estimates that doing so can create up to 12,500 units of housing, bringing […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Campbell warns municipalities MBTA zoning law not optional
MASSACHUSSETTS ATTORNEY General Andrea Campbell is wading into the MBTA communities dust-up, releasing an advisory Wednesday morning emphasizing that participating in the transit-oriented housing policy is not optional and raising the prospect of legal and financial consequences for cities or towns that decide to buck the policy. “Compliance with the MBTA Communities Zoning Law is not only […]
Posted inPolitics
How to win the campaign for rent control
NOW THAT Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent control proposal has passed the Boston City Council, the real test begins. The plan to dramatically reshape regulation of Boston housing must win over a state Legislature that often takes cues from the business community before it could reach the desk of Gov. Maura Healey. On its surface, limits […]
Posted inEconomy
Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse could impact Mass. affordable housing
SILICON VALLEY BANK’S sudden collapse is sending shockwaves far beyond the tech sector, leaving Massachusetts affordable housing organizations particularly panicky. It’s been less than two years since the California-based bank purchased Boston Private Bank and Trust, which for decades financed affordable housing and supported mortgage programs in the state. Now, affordable housing and community development […]
Posted inHousing, Politics
Wu wins two victories at Boston City Council
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL gave its seal of approval Wednesday to Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent control plan and her pitch to reshuffle the city’s development agency, twin victories for the mayor’s campaign vows to tackle housing costs and reform the city’s development review system. The margin of victory was strong on both measures, with both […]